You have 21 days

The limit

An unfair dismissal application must be lodged with the Fair Work Commission within 21 days after the dismissal took effect: s 394(2)(a) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). A general protections application involving dismissal has the same 21-day limit: s 366(1)(a).

Why it is different

This one is three weeks, it runs from the day the dismissal took effect rather than from the day you learned something, and extensions are granted only in exceptional circumstances under s 394(3). Waiting for an internal appeal to conclude, or for the employer to reply to your letter, is not an exceptional circumstance.

Are you eligible?

• Minimum employment period: six months, or 12 months if the employer is a small business with fewer than 15 employees
• Covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement, or earning under the high income threshold
• Not a genuine redundancy, which requires that the job is no longer required, that consultation obligations in the award were met, and that redeployment was considered

Which application

Unfair dismissal looks at whether the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable. Compensation is capped by s 392(5) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) at the lesser of the remuneration received, or that the person was entitled to receive, in the 26 weeks immediately before the dismissal, and half the high income threshold immediately before the dismissal — so a higher earner is capped well below 26 weeks' pay. General protections looks at whether the dismissal was because a workplace right was exercised, a complaint was made, or for a protected attribute, and there is no cap on that compensation. The same dismissal cannot be run as both.

Where the period has already passed

A late application can still be argued under s 394(3), so lodge it anyway.